How to Grow Perilla for High Yield? Detailed Explanation of Key Cultivation Techniques
Perilla (scientific name: Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt.), also known as guiren, white perilla, red perilla, etc.; it is an annual herbaceous plant of the Lamiaceae family. It has a distinctive aroma. The leaves are mostly shrunken and curled; when flattened, the intact ones are ovate, 4 to 11 cm long and 2.5 to 9 cm wide, with a long-tapered or acute apex, a rounded or broadly cuneate base, and rounded serrate margins; both surfaces are purple, or the upper surface is green, and the lower surface has numerous sunken glandular scales. The petiole is 2 to 5 cm long, purple or purple-green, and brittle. The young branches are purple-green, with pith in the center of the cross-section, a fresh fragrance, and a slightly pungent taste.
The Plant History of Perilla
Perilla has a history of about nearly 2000 years of cultivation and use in China, mainly for medicinal, oil, spice, and food purposes. Its leaves (perilla leaves), stems (perilla stems), and fruits (perilla seeds) can all be used as medicine; the tender leaves can be eaten raw or used in soups, and the stems and leaves can be pickled. In modern times, because of its unique active substances and nutritional components, perilla has become a multi-purpose plant of worldwide attention, with very high economic value. Russia, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada, and other countries have carried out large-scale commercial cultivation of Perilla genus plants and developed dozens of perilla products such as edible oil, medicines, pickled products, and cosmetics.
How can perilla be cultivated for high yield?
Perilla is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Perilla in the Lamiaceae family. It is nutritious, is also a traditional Chinese medicine with good efficacy, can be used as an ornamental plant, and is also a widely used industrial raw material, with fairly broad development prospects. Its high-yield and high-efficiency cultivation techniques are as follows:
1. Land Selection and Preparation
1. For land selection, slightly acidic soil with high humus content, or loose, fertile, well-drained sandy loam, is best.
2. Apply sufficient base fertilizer. Apply sufficient base fertilizer, especially sufficient high-quality farmyard manure, such as livestock manure and poultry manure. The application rate is required to be more than 5000 kg per mu. It should first be fully decomposed, spread before spring land preparation, then plowed into the soil, finely harrowed and mixed evenly, so that soil and fertilizer are integrated.
3. Finely prepare the land. Perilla has a fibrous root system, and the roots are well developed, capable of entering the soil more than 30 cm, but they are mainly distributed in the 25 cm soil layer. Therefore, deep plowing should be carried out before winter, with a plowing depth of more than 25 cm, using winter freezing to eliminate pathogenic spores, egg masses, and pupae in the soil, loosen the soil, and enhance the soil's water storage and fertilizer retention capacity. Before spring planting, carry out spring plowing and spring harrowing, and make the land fine, level, loose, and soft, with a loose top layer and a firm lower layer.
4. Open ditches and make beds. If drainage is poor, it will seriously affect the yield and quality of perilla. Perilla requires careful management and multiple harvests, so ditches must be opened and beds made. The bed width only needs to allow a person to stand on both sides, remove all weeds on the bed surface, and facilitate harvesting. Generally, the bed surface width is required to be about 1.2 m, the bed ditch width 30 cm to 40 cm, and the ditch depth 15 cm to 20 cm.
2. Seedling Raising and Transplanting
Perilla can be direct-seeded, broadcast-seeded, drilled, or hole-seeded. Perilla has strong adaptability and can germinate when the soil temperature is above 5°C. Generally, late March to early April is the suitable sowing period. Seedling raising and transplanting can also be used. If seedlings can be raised in a greenhouse and then field-planted, their growth period can be extended, which is beneficial for high yield and good quality.
1. Select good varieties. Select Japanese leaf-eating perilla and domestic large-leaf perilla. Red-leaf perilla has a rich aroma in the leaves, and green-leaf perilla has vigorous growth, so they can also be selected. Choose seeds with fresh good color, uniform size, full grains, and no mildew.
2. Greenhouse seedling raising. First, prepare the seedbed well. Apply sufficient fully decomposed farmyard manure and quick-acting fertilizer. On the basis of deep plowing in winter, shallow plow, refine, and level, and make small low beds running north-south, with a bed surface width of about 1 m and a bed ridge height of 4 cm to 6 cm. The bed surface should be higher in the north and lower in the south, with a drop of 10 cm, to facilitate light exposure. Second, sow appropriately early. The sowing period should be 30 days to 40 days earlier than open-field direct sowing, generally mid-February to early March is more suitable. Third, improve sowing techniques. Treat the seeds at 3°C for 5 days and spray with 1000 ppm gibberellin to promote germination.
At sowing, the seedbed temperature should preferably be 15°C to 20°C. The seeding rate per mu of seedbed is about 1 kg. Mix the seeds evenly with more than 10 times their volume of fine sandy soil, spread evenly in the seedbed, then spread a layer of fine soil, to the extent that the seeds are no longer visible. If the bed soil is not moist enough, spray or sprinkle water; if the temperature can be controlled at about 20°C, seedlings can emerge about one week after sowing. Fourth, strengthen seedbed management. When the first pair of true leaves unfolds after emergence, pull out weeds, and after weeding apply quick-acting fertilizer once; when the second pair of true leaves unfolds, thin and finalize the seedlings in time, with a seedling spacing of about 3 cm, and after finalizing the seedlings apply quick-acting fertilizer once more; when the third pair of true leaves is fully unfolded and the fourth pair appears, carry out hardening, for 5 days to 7 days, and when the seedlings are 12 cm to 15 cm tall, they can be transplanted to the field.
3. Transplanting and planting. Keep a block of robust seedlings to reserve for replanting. If the seedbed soil turns white, water the bed soil thoroughly the day before transplanting to make the soil moist, so as to facilitate lifting the seedlings, keep the root system intact, and transplant with soil. It is best to choose a cloudy day, before rain, or the afternoon for transplanting, as this helps the seedlings recover. When planting, make holes at a plant-row spacing of 25 cm × 35 cm.
3. Field Management
1. Check seedlings and replant missing ones. About 5 days after planting, promptly lift robust seedlings to fill gaps, ensuring complete and uniform stands.
2. Cultivation and weeding. About 10 days after planting, carry out cultivation and weeding once in time, taking care that the cultivation is shallow to avoid damaging the roots; afterward, according to seedling growth, soil moisture, and weed conditions, carry out cultivation and weeding another 2 times to 3 times, and loosen the soil to preserve moisture.
3. Irrigation and drainage. During its growth period, especially during the vigorous growth period in summer, water in time to resist drought and keep the soil moist; in the rainy season, especially after heavy rain, clear the ditches in time and drain all accumulated water to prevent waterlogging and root rot.
4. Skillfully apply topdressing. After the transplanted seedlings survive and before cultivation, topdress once, applying 1000 kg of dilute water manure per mu by spot application, or 10 kg of urea prepared as a 0.3% solution by spot application; before the plants close the rows, apply 2500 kg of dilute water manure per mu; it is best to spray the leaves with a 0.5% urea solution 1 time to 2 times during the vigorous leaf growth period.
5. Remove leaves and prune branches. If the purpose is to harvest seeds, some stems and leaves should be appropriately removed to improve ventilation and light penetration and reduce nutrient consumption by stems and leaves; if tender stems and leaves are harvested for food, the top parts that have already undergone flower bud differentiation can be removed to prevent flowering, so as to maintain vigorous growth of stems and leaves.